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outer Vessel.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

JOHN S. GALLAHER, JR., AND JOI-IN W. SMITH, OF -WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA.

GAS APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,904, dated December 11, 1855.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, JOHN S. GALLAHER, Junior, and JOHN W. SMITH, ofVashington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented and madecertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Producing Gas forIlluminating Purposes, which apparatus we term the Self-Generating andSelf-Purifying Apparatus; and we do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 14 is a perspective view of the apparatus complete, a, a,a, a, being the fire place part, or heating apartment, with the door a*ak, thrown open, exposing partly to view the retort C; b, b, b, b, thewater tank or purifying vessel; bxv bx the bottom of tank, which bottomforms the roof of the heating apartment. The fire place and the tankform one combined apparatus on the C is the globular retort with supplypipe el, and stop cock or key e. f is the jet tube with stop `cock g; h,the throat with the goo-se neck conduit or flow pipe i z' J. m, m, isthe cap or gas receiver, with an air exhaust tube and stop cock n 0, anda connection throat tube p. g g are loop sockets or slides working onrods or a framing fr, 1, r, 7. s, s are rings or hooks to the top of thecap, or receiver, to which are attached elevating cord t, t, t, t, t,working over guide places u, u, and through an elevating pulley o, o. w,w are balance weights. X is a cylindrical branch retort, with detachablecap y, and connected to a feed or supply coil Vpipe e, e, z, e'. & is asmall connection or conduit pipe, with a stop cock on a cut off Fig. 2is a vertical sectional view of the combination fire or heatingapartment, with the door a* a* thrown open, exposing in full theglobular retort C, arranged and combined with the water tank b, b, andthe floating strainer or purifier 7c, 7c. This diagram Fig. 2 isintended to represent a semi or half perspective sectional view takenvertically in order to show the position of the perforated strainer10,70 and its rim L,L, and at the same time exposing the retort C, andpipe z' i passing upward through the tank bottom b bx b bx and thestrainer 76,]0.

Fig. 3 shows the floating strainer de-` tached from the tank 'orreservoir.

Description.

To enable others to be skilled in the construction and application ofour improvements we will describe the same as follows:

First is formed a combination apparatus having a fire place or heatingapartment a, a, a, a, and a water tank or reservoir or purifying vesselb, b, b, b,'of any suitable metal and of any desired form, that shown inFig. 1 being deemed the simplest and cheapest. This water tank must beper fectly tight, and its bottom be fire proof. The part forming thelire place must have a suitable door ai* and also a provision for escapeof smoke, as at bx, bx, bx, Fig. 2. Through the center of the bottom bx,bx, passes a vertical tube or flow pipe z', i, of one or more inchesbore, and the upper end `of this pipe is bent or curved or turneddownward in form of what may be termed a goose neck J, Fig. 2, and asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. l. This flow pipe must be attachedsecurely through the bottom of the water tank bx bx b, b, b, b, thelower end passing through the bottom of the tank, and so formed with ascrew thread that there may be attached thereto the throat or connectionb of a retort C, which is formed in a globular shape, as represented inFigs. l, 2. This retort C, may be formed of any suitable cast metal, andfor a very large apparatus need not be over ten inches diameter. Thisretort C, is formed with a spout or feed pipe d, having a stop cock orkey e, and a gas jet pipe f f, and key g, vThe retort C, is to beattached securely and tight to the lower end of the flow pipe z', z' andelevated suiiciently from the ground, so as to admit of a small furnaceor suitable fire to be applied.

To the outside of the water tank b, b, b, b are attached vertical rodsora suitable framing 7j 7 1" r, which is designed to sustain or supportthe cap or receiver m, mi, which is made of any suitable sheet metal,and itis better' to raise the top in dome like form for strength. Cnt-he top of vthe receiver there is an air exhaust pipe n, having a stopcock or key 0. There may be also on the top a connection supply or flowconduit pipe p, to which may be attached a flexible tube,

so as to yield readily to the rising and depression of the receiver, orthe communication with the gasometer or receiver may be made in anysuitable manner. The cap or receiver is arranged with weights, w, w,attached to cords t, t, i, t, working over pulleys and guides u, u, o,so as to be movable up and do'wn, or to elevate with increase of gas,and to depress or sink down within the water tank as the supply of gasdiminishes, as is the case with all vgasometersl This cap m, m, shouldbe constructed something smaller in diameter than the tank, so as tomove up and down Within the tank I), Z), b, b, freely. This cap orreceiver may be of any suitable depth, and the lower end thereof alwaysto be suiciently within the water so as not to permit the escape or lossof gas. In addition to this cap is used a floating perforated strainer,shown in Fig. 3. This strainer is used within the tank, and has a rim ofwood or metal or cork, or of any suitable light, buoyant material, so asto float the perforated disk surface lo, la, above the watersuiiiciently, say one or two inches. The punctures or perforations neednot be very small, say about one fourth of an inch in size, theroughened sides of the punctures to be upward, and upon this surface issprinkled a mixture of quick lime and fullers earth, say about a fourthor half an inch in depth, or in mass. This mixture is the purifyingmedium or the iltrating agent.

The water tank may be filled with water to within about twelve inches ofthe top edge, or merely sufficiently so as not to rise up within thegoose neck as the receiver is depressed within the water tank. 1t mustbe observed that the strainer 7c, 7c fits within the receiver ratherloosely, so as not to be acted on by the receiver, but to remainfloating. above the surface of the water. The water tank or reservoirmay have a stop cock or faucet device, so as to draw off the impurewater when desired.

In combination with the retort C, and main apparatus is employed ahorizontally arranged cylindrical branch retort X, having a detachablecap y, with coiled feed or supply pipe e, s, z, a, and a conduit pipewith stop cock or key t. The cap y is detached when the retort is to becleansed.

The operation of our apparatus is as follows, viz: In the production ofgas for illuminating purposes a variety of modes or processes have beenresorted to, requiring, generally a complexity of machinery or variousapparatus, but as yet in other modes than ours the object sought afterhas not been perfectly attained, nor are any'T of the several processesin use reduced to the simplicity that ours is, and attended consequentlywith cheapness and general utility `in their application. It is nothowever here deemed essential to point out the distinguishing featurespossessed by other modes than ours. We will simply state that by ourprocess illuminating gas can be generated from any resinous, fatty, oroily matter instantaneously and direct from the retort, and purified atthe saine instant without passing through series of baths or distinctmechanical devices. The apparatus being completed for use the water tankb Z) Z) is filled with the 'proper quantity of water, and the perforatedstrainer Fig. 3 is arranged in place, the cap or receiver m m. adjustedwithin the tank, and in order to cause the receiver to sink within thetank the air is exhausted through the escape pipe a, the stop cock orkey o, being kept open. l/Vhen the cap or receiver is suiiicientlydepressed, the key or stop cock is turned to close the vent, in order toprevent the escape of the gas. This being done, the cylindrical orbranch retort X, being entirely empty and being arranged within afurnace or lire place of any ordinary chimney, or made to be applicableto any cooking rstove or portable furnace, is then subjected to a highdegree of heat, lire being applied underneath the retort, which,attaining a red heat, may be charged with liquid oily or fatty matter,which is poured or fed into the mouth of the feed pipe. The

'pipe being provided with a key or stop cock e* and coil z m, enablesthe liquid matter to iiow slowly and to drip in small drops or volumesinto the retort X, and coming suddenly in contact with the heatedinternal surface gas is instantly evolved, and being set free passesthrough the conduit pipe (the stop cock or key i being open) into themain retort C, containing quick lime in a small quantity, which is alsosubjected to heat in order to diffuse it, so that the gaseous matter maymingle with the diffused fumes of lime and thus in part be purified ordivested of the fatty impurities, which are absorbed or decomposed bythe diffused lime, and ascending upward through the vertical flow pipez', z', issues out of the goose neck j, Fig. 2, the end of which passesdownward through the perforated floating strainer 7s, 70, which beingabove the surface of the water aords a space between the water and itssurface, wherein the gas accumulates in volume, and thence presses orforces upward through the lime and fullers earth mixture, and thus thegas is most ei'ectually purified and rendered free to a very greatextent, of the unpleasant odor incident to gaseous matter, beside beingentirely freed of the residuum of carbonaceous particles, without beingpassed through baths or washed, as is required in other modes andprocesses. W

It may be well enough to remark that if the gas is desired to be of aportable nature and for ordinary domestic purposes the k, the receiverm, m, in the manner as specilied, and for the purpose of constituting acompact and portable gas generating and purifying apparatus.

JOHN S. GALLAHER, JUNIOR. [1.. s.]

'JOHN W. SMITH.

"Witnesses:

J. HEPBURN, GEO. H. LOMBARD.

branch retort X, and coiled pipe a, and conduit may be detached from themain or globular retort C, which alone may be used with the fire orheating chamber a, a, a, a, and thus the whole apparatus made verycompact and portable.

It must be observed that the liability of the gas to recede or Howbackward through the coil pipe a a is entirely obviated by the use of astop cock or key 2*, which is esential to prevent the pressure of thegas from forcing the liquid out of the feed pipe a, z. Again, too, incharging the retorts X, and C, care must be observed that no moisture orwater be within the pipes, and before pouring in the liquid matter allsuch difficulty of generating steam is obviated, as the heating of theretorts will expel all moisture, observing that the keys or stop cocksare open to enable the expelling of the accumulated vapor or anyaccidental production of steam. None of the diticulties cited can occurif due caution also be observed in not iilling the water tank too much,so as to force water within the pipes by the accumulated air in the capor receiver, which might through oversight prevent the successfuloperation of the apparatus. In the use of the globular retort C, quick-lime in small quantity of from one to two tablespoonfuls beingsuflicient to be deposited within the retort through the neck il, afterbeing detached from the pipe c', 2'. In heating the lime to diffuse it,the heat of retort C, may attain a red degree or sufficiently only todiffuse the vapor of the lime. Again, in the use of the retort C, theliquid oily or greasy matter is poured through the feed spout or pipeCZ, but in minute quantity, so as not to thoroughly saturate the lime,but instead fall on the side of the retort, and in being evolved thusmingle with the diffused fumes or vapor of the heated lime. Thus the gasis thoroughly distilled and thrown off in a highly concentrated andperfectly pure condition, being divested of all bad acrid odor, and theiiame afforded by this gas is entirely free of all carbonaceoussparkles, while the light therefrom is clear, steady and soft.

Owing to the form of the globular retort C it may be used as aself-generating apparatus and the usual fire or heat from wood or coalbe dispensed with, for when the receiver is to be recharged or filledagain all that is essential is not to exhaust or consume the wholequantity of gas, but reserving some, the stop cock or key g, of the jetf, j", Fig. 2, is turned, when the gas flows out of the end of the jet,and being ignited is used to heat up the retort C, which when heatedsufficiently is charged or supplied with the oil or grease through thefeed pipe CZ, and in this manner gas is used to produce gas. Thusoperated the retort C acts somewhat as a self generating gas apparatusand the process becomes a most simple, expeditious and cheap one bydispensing in a measure with the wood or coal heat or tire. [t may bewell enough to remark that as this retort C, is to be used as aself-generating vessel it should be made of thin cast metal, so as toheat readily in the application of the jet of gas.

The who-le apparatus described and shown must of course be constructedof the proper size to aord the required amount of gas to be consumed.The estimated amount consumed per hour by one gas burner is about twocubic feet, and one burner will emit a light or volume equal to thelight afforded by twenty five common wax candles.

In the application of our process we do not confine or limit ourselvesto the precise cylindrical form of retort arranged hori- Zontally, butcan adapt a retort to any ordinary fire place, stove or furnace, and inthe process or mode employed by us a continuous heat or perpetualcharging of the retort is not required, but the heating and charging areonly resorted to at intervals or when a fresh supply of gas is to beused.

It is essential to observe that in heating and charging the retortsthere must not be too much of a flow of the oily or greasy matter, forif too much liquid enters the retorts a degree of ebullition will takeplace that will counteract the evolving of the gas, and instead of puregaseous matter a residuum will be the result, greatly endangering thequantity and quality of the gas. The oily fluid or grease must merelydrip in small quantity through the feed pipes, and in observing thisevery particle of the oil or grease is completely digested and nothingbut pure gas thrown off, divestcpl of all lamp black or carbonaceouspartic es.

Gas produced by our process may be retained for any length of time inair-tight vessels, and if necessary made portable.

In the application of our process to light up dwellings and otherbuildings the ordinary gas fixtures, fittings and burners can be used,dispensing, however, with the meter Aused with the ordinary mode ofusing gas.

It is deemed useless here to dwell upon the great utility of our mode ofproducing illuminating gas for domestic and other purposes. The generalfeatures of simplicity and perfect operation of the apparatus, togetherwith the great economy and cleanliness attending the process, show thevarious advantages in favor of our mode and apparatus over the variousother modes or systems of producing gas.

Having described the construction, operation and application of ourimproved apparatus and process of generating and puri-

